Significance
by Mari Nighthaze
Summary: Hogwarts AU. When Lovino Vargas went to Hogwarts he wasn't expecting wimpy brothers, magical pranks, or falling in love. When Antonio Fernandez Carriedo went to Hogwarts, he wasn't expecting crazy friends, prank wars, or a mesmerizing, strong-willed Hufflepuff. Whether it's fortunate or unfortunate, however, it's exactly what they got. Part one of the Mystic Series.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to part one of the Mystic Series, a story set in Hogwarts before the time of Harry, but after the time of the Marauders. Each story centers around a couple, with this one being, of course, Spamano. More information about the universe can be found on my profile.

Enjoy, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

* * *

_September 1__st__, 1980_

The first time Lovino met Antonio, he was severely pissed off.

"Feliciano? FELICIANO! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO, YOU IDIOT?" Lovino glared angrily around the platform in search of his stupid little brother, yelling in his native language as he stared down anyone brave enough to try and shush him. For the first time he was glad that this was England and no one here could understand what he was screaming so loudly in Italian. He was already pissed enough; he didn't need any scandalized looks from stuck-up British parents.

He sighed, scanning the platform once again for tan skin and a bouncy curl so similar to his own. It was just his luck that at every new place they went to it took all of three and a half seconds for his brother to wander off on his own, but it took forever for him to come running back, crying about being lost.

Lovino stomped across the platform, his things bumping around in the cart behind him as he tried to find his brother. He almost knocked over a blonde boy in his haste, ignoring his indignant cries about messed up hair in favor of muttering irritably under his breath. "Feli, tell me where you are right now, or I'll- oof!"

He was knocked forward by someone running straight into him, hugging him from behind. He spun around, glowering and ready to tell the pervert off only to meet the wide, happy grin of his brother.

"There you are, finally! Where the hell did you run off to?"

Feliciano, long used to his brother's curses, just smiled and started babbling loudly in English. "Sorry, Lovino! I got distracted by this adorable little kitty, and then I got lost and I was really scared, but-"

The train whistle blew, cutting off Feliciano mid-sentence and reminding everyone that the locomotive was set to leave in a few minutes. Almost immediately a mad dash began as students snatched up their stuff and began piling through the doors while parents waved from the platform. Lovino cursed colorfully under his breath and addressed his brother. "Hurry up, we have to get on. Where's your trunk?" Together, they managed to get both of their trunks onto the train and began dragging them down the corridor, winding around people looking for friends or putting luggage away and peeking through the windows as they went.

"Oh, look, _fratello, _here's an empty one!" Feliciano, accidently using the Italian word in his excitement, led the way into a vacant compartment.

"Finally," Lovino muttered. After a lot of heaving, shoving and, in Lovino's case, swearing, the twins managed to get Feliciano's trunk into the luggage rack. They were about to start on Lovino's when something caught Feliciano's eye and he ran off just as quickly as he had the first time, leaving Lovino with a trunk stuck halfway through the door and no help whatsoever.

"Damn it," he muttered angrily, kicking the ridiculously heavy trunk and resisting the urge to clutch at his now-aching foot. It had been hard enough with Feli's help; there was no way he'd be able to even lift up the stupid thing on his own, let alone get it into the rack.

Lovino sighed wearily and plopped down on his trunk to wait for his brainless _fratello_. He was alternating between cursing about his brother and damning his temporary chair to the fiery pits of hell when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Do you need some help with that?"

"GAH!" Lovino jumped, tumbling backwards off the trunk and landing in the hallway. He groaned softly, rubbing the newly-formed bump on his head and gingerly sitting up. His eyes flew open, however, when he heard laughter above him. Whipping around, he glared up into amused green eyes, a dark scowl gracing his features. "What the hell are you laughing at, bastard?"

The taller boy stopped laughing, though he couldn't quite hide a joyful grin. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he ran a hand through his curly brown hair, smiling apologetically at Lovino as he scrambled to his feet, "I just saw you sitting here with your trunk and I thought you might need help."

Lovino smoothed down his robes, refusing to meet the other boy's gaze while his cheeks burned bright red. Figures, school hadn't even started yet and he was already making a fool of himself in front of upperclassmen. Never mind that this one seemed to be a few tomatoes short of a bushel.

"I don't need any help," he grumbled, crossing his arms and staring resolutely off to the side. A second later he recalled the rest of the boy's words and his eyes narrowed. "And I wasn't scared!"

The other boy laughed again and Lovino couldn't help but glance at him out of the corner of his eye, though he looked away quickly when his gaze was met.

"Of course; my apologies." Lovino raised an eyebrow, searching his face for any form of sarcasm. However, the boy just grinned once more and continued speaking, oblivious to the angry aura of his companion. "But even if you don't need it, do you mind if I help anyway?"

Lovino was confused, and glared suspiciously at the older boy. Why would this guy want to help someone he barely even knew? Not to mention it was _him, _and he could admit he hadn't been exactly pleasant in the past few was probably some kind of trick, and yet… he looked down at his trunk and sighed. "Whatever, fine. But only because this thing's fucking heavy and my stupid brother disappeared again."

The other boy smiled a little indulgently and put down the bag slung over his shoulder to grab one end of the trunk.

"Of course." Together, they hauled the trunk up beside his brother's with much more ease than he and Feliciano had. Lovino glanced at the other boy, who was still grinning at him like an idiot, then down.

"Thanks, I guess," he muttered, fiddling with the sleeve of his sweater.

"No problem! My name is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo; it's a pleasure to meet you!" Lovino's vision was suddenly filled with a bronzed hand, and he stared for a moment before hesitantly extending his own. "Lovino. Lovino Vargas," replied, giving a firm handshake.

They stayed like that for a moment, then the train started moving and Antonio took a seat before Lovino had a chance to kick him out. "You have an accent; are you here through the exchange program as well?" For a moment, Lovino contemplated cursing him out for assuming he was allowed to stay and making him leave, but the bastard had already made himself comfortable and it really wasn't worth the effort. He rolled his eyes and sat down opposite Antonio.

"Who said having an accent makes you part of the exchange program?" Antonio, ignoring the Italian's grouchy tone, merely raised an eyebrow.

"Well, are you?"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Yeah, me and my brother are from Italy." Antonio nodded, staring at him thoughtfully.

"I thought so. You look Italian," he added in answer to Lovino's raised eyebrow. "I'm from Spain. This is my third year in the program," he offered, though Lovino hadn't bothered asking. He opened his mouth, then closed it when he realized he really didn't know what to say to the sunny Spaniard. They sat there, Antonio smiling at him while Lovino refused to make eye contact, staring awkwardly down at his hands. He wracked his brain for something, anything to break the silence when he heard a rustle of cloth and looked up to see Antonio taking a large tomato out of his bag. Lovino's eyes widened as he stared at the fruit.

Antonio noticed the look and smiled. "Do you want one?" He asked, holding out the tomato while he dug another from the backpack. Lovino took it, turning it over in his hands before glaring warily at Antonio.

"It's not poisoned, is it?"

Antonio laughed. "No, not at all! Do you want me to try it first to prove it?" He winked, eyes laughing even if he wasn't. Lovino rolled his eyes and took a bite rather than deigning that with an answer.

"I hope you like it. It's from my garden at home." Lovino raised an eyebrow, taking a bite out of the, admittedly delicious, fruit.

"You grow tomatoes?" Antonio nodded enthusiastically, delighted, for whatever reason, that there was something about him Lovino approved of. He shrugged, and the continued eating in comfortable silence.

Lovino was just taking his last bite of tomato when the door burst open. He jumped again and almost choked on his favorite food. Two boys, a blonde and an albino, rushed in, completely ignoring Lovino; instead, they lit up when they saw Antonio.

"Toni, there you are!"

"Dude, where the fuck have you been; we've been looking all over the train for your sorry ass!"

Antonio looked up, grinning at the two of them. "Sorry, _amigos, _I got distracted." He turned back to Lovino. "These are my friends, Francis and Gilbert."

Lovino narrowed his eyes as he came face-to-face with Gilbert's self-absorbed smirk and Francis's perverted leer. He was already quite sure he wasn't going to like them. With a slight nod, he turned to look out the window and attempted to tune them out. Gilbert, however, was having none of that. He bounded forward, eyes widening when he got a glimpse of Lovino's face. "Oh, hey, it's you!"

Lovino glared, not liking that he was now both uncomfortable and confused. "What the fuck are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life, dickhead!"

Gilbert looked confused. "Huh? But… wait, never mind, you're different. I don't think the other kid even _had_ a frown setting, but you're stuck in spits-on-puppies mode," he confirmed after getting a better look at the Italian.

"But that wasn't nice, Toni," the Frenchie piped up with a smirk before Lovino could ask what the hell he was going on about, "keeping such a cutie all to yourself; I'm hurt." Francis all but purred, leaning dangerously into Lovino's personal space. His eyes widened, and he scrambled back against the window.

"Stay the fuck away from me, you perverted-"

"Leave him alone, Francis." All attention turned to Antonio, who was suddenly standing in between his friend and Lovino. While the tone was polite, something about his expression implied a threatening undercurrent. They stood frozen for a few minutes before Francis chuckled.

"Ah, so that's how it is," he smirked. "My apologies, _mon cher, _I hadn't realized." He turned, tossing a wink over his shoulder and heading out to wait in the hallway, dragging Gilbert with him. Antonio turned back to Lovino, looking a bit sheepish.

"Sorry about them. They can be overbearing sometimes, but they're pretty nice once you get to know them." Lovino just nodded, mind still going over the exchange between Antonio and Francis. Though he didn't quite understand what it meant, for some reason thinking about it made his stomach feel funny.

"Anyway, I should probably go," Antonio said, though he made no move towards the door as he continued thoughtfully. "If I leave them alone for too long, I just know Gil will try to hijack the controls; he's always wanted to try the whistle."

Lovino glared down at the floor of the compartment, trying to crush the part of him that was disappointed.

"Sure, I don't care." The Spaniard smiled once more and headed towards the door.

"Alright, then. I'll see you around. Who knows, maybe we'll be in Gryffindor together!" A wave, and he was gone. Only a few minutes later Feliciano bounced in, humming quietly to himself.

"Hi, _fratello, _I'm back! Oh, you got your trunk up; I was worried it would be too heavy." Lovino didn't quite meet Feliciano's gaze, and quietly muttered that he'd gotten help. Feliciano, oblivious to his mood, lit up.

"Wow, the people here are so nice, huh? Aren't you glad grandpa sent us?"

Yes. "No. Of course not," Lovino scoffed and rolled his eyes, ignoring the pair of green ones that were floating through his mind. And after the ceremony, he absolutely refused to admit that he was upset about being sorted into Hufflepuff.

.

_September 1__st__, 1984_

"Lovino? _Fratello? _Are you alright?" Lovino blinked and turned to see his brother looking at him, concerned. His mouth quickly situated itself in its usual frown.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Feliciano shrugged, tilting his head.

"No reason, it's just that you looked really distracted and you were staring at the Gryffindor table for a long time." Lovino's eyes widened for a moment before he looked away and grabbed a roll from one of the baskets to hide his blush.

"Just shut up and eat, Feli."

"But…"

"Hey, look, there's some pasta!" Lovino gestured to a serving plate a few feet down, and Feliciano's eyes immediately lit up.

"Really? Yay!" As he starting heaping his plate with enough pasta to feed an army, Lovino sighed quietly in relief and got his own food, grateful that his brother was so easily distracted.

Once they had all eaten, Dumbledore stood up and began speaking. Lovino rolled his eyes and tuned the old man out as usual. It wasn't until Feliciano nudged him and pointed excitedly at the headmaster that he began listening again.

"And once again I would like to thank all of our foreign students who have come back to spend another year with us, as well as extend a warm welcome to the first years just starting this program. I'm glad to see that even though it has been seven years since we began to accept students from other countries and send some of our students elsewhere, we are still having such good results.

"Now, after that wonderful food and such a long journey I am sure you all would enjoy a nice, long rest, so it's off to bed. First years, please follow your house prefects to find your way to your common rooms."

The Italians got up and followed the rest of the Hufflepuffs, who were all trailing after his friend Bella and that quiet Canadian guy in his year. Lovino watched the bespectacled boy trying vainly to wake the sleepy Greek boy with the cat on his head, snickering quietly.

"Lovi! Hey, there you are Lovi, I was looking for you!" Lovino turned around, violently crushing the butterflies suddenly doing a conga in his stomach only to stiffen as he was caught in a warm hug.

"G-get off of me, you bastard! And don't call me that!" He untangled himself from a laughing Antonio, attempting to glare though he could feel his cheeks darkening as they always did around the cheery Spaniard.

"Sorry, Lovino," he grinned, completely unapologetic, and turned to Feliciano. "And hello, Feli; it's so good to see you!"

"You too!" Lovino crossed his arms and scowled while his little brother hugged Antonio and began to prattle incessantly. "It was nice to be home, but I missed all my friends over the summer since postage to other countries costs a lot, so it was hard to write to Ludwig and Kiku, and you, of course. Lovino missed you too, even if he doesn't want to say. I know because he would always sigh a lot whenever we had tomatoes at dinner and he kept writing letters to you and then throwing them awa-mmph!"

Lovino clapped a hand over Feliciano's mouth, blushing furiously and avoiding Antonio's gaze. "Let's go, Feli. We should be going back to the common room right now."

Feliciano nodded happily, seemingly oblivious to Lovino's discomfort. He looked around and almost jumped up and down with delight as he saw a group of Ravenclaws walking in the opposite direction. "Oh, there's Ludwig, and Kiku's probably there, too! I'm going to go say hi!" Lovino's eyes immediately darkened.

"Hell no, you stay away from that damn potato bas-" Feliciano skipped off before he could finish, and Lovino groaned wearily. "He never listens."

"Probably something he learned from you," Antonio commented, and Lovino shot him a glare.

"And just what is that supposed to-"

"Come on; I'll walk you to your common room." Lovino looked ready to protest, but eventually just sighed and fell into step next to Antonio. The bastard would never leave even if Lovino did say something anyway.

They walked along, Antonio talking about different things that happened over the summer while Lovino pretended not to listen. After winding through countless corridors and several flights of stairs, they reached the archway that led to the Hufflepuff common room. Lovino turned to say goodbye, then froze. Antonio was much closer than he expected, looking at him with an unreadable glint in his eye.

"Wha-?" He was silenced when Antonio leaned closer. Holy shit, was he going to do what he thought he was going to do? Antonio swallowed, looking a bit nervous, and Lovino leaned forward almost against his will. All at once Antonio pulled back slightly, grabbing something from the pocket of his robes and putting it in Lovino's.

"Here, I noticed there weren't any at the feast tonight," he whispered, and suddenly he was back to normal, shooting Lovino a grin and a wave as he began his long trek across the castle. Lovino stood immobile for another few moments, wide-eyed, before he pulled the object from his pocket. He gave a breathy laugh that was almost a sigh and slumped against the wall, eyes never leaving the perfectly ripe tomato in his hands.

What had he done in a past life to deserve falling in love with such an idiot?


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning, Lovino!" Something began bouncing up and down on Lovino's bed. He groaned, turning over and pulling a pillow over his head in hopes that whatever it was would go away. No such luck, however; the pillow was yank unceremoniously from his grasp, and he found himself glaring blearily up at the smiling face of his brother.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Feli?" He growled, trying to push him onto the floor. Feliciano just laughed and started dragging him off the bed.

"Come on, it's time to get up!"

Lovino glared, clinging resolutely to his mattress. "Since when are you a morning person? You usually hate getting up early!"

"Yeah, but breakfast is served on a schedule here, and if we don't hurry we'll-"

"Oh my God, would you guys just _shut up__?!" _The two Italians, along with everyone else in the room, jumped about a foot in the air at the loud screech that came from the other side of the room. Feliks was sitting up in bed looking supremely pissed off, though the picture was somewhat ruined by his bed head and pink pajama shirt. "It's seven in the frickin' morning and I'm trying to sleep!"

Lovino had by then taken refuge beneath his bed with Feliciano not far behind him. Though Feliks was usually a wimp, he could be downright terrifying when his beauty sleep was compromised. "H-how about we all just calm down…?" Tino, ever the peacemaker, said from where he'd fallen off his bed after Feliks had rather violently woken him up. "Hey, Feliks, I heard that there is going to be some _kielbasa_ at breakfast this morning."

"No way, really?" Feliks went from 'those known as morning people must die violently by way of my flat iron' to all-smiles in almost an instant. "Oh my god, what are we waiting for? If we don't hurry up it'll all be gone!"

He all but sprinted towards the bathroom, completely missing Lovino's muttered "No one likes that weird Polish food but you." As soon as he was out of sight the twins crawled out from under the bed and dusted themselves off. The other boys quickly gathered their things and filed off to the bathroom, though with Feliks in there they weren't likely to have much time in front of the mirror. Lovino glanced longingly at his bed, but his sight was blocked by a pair of pants as Feliciano rooted through his trunk, trying to find an appropriate outfit among the mess.

"Come on, we're going to miss breakfast, and then we won't be able to eat for _hours!_" Lovino sighed but grabbed the pants off of his head and started to change, narrowly missing a sneaker to the face as he pulled on his robes. Feliciano was still half-buried in his trunk, which he had deliberately made into such disarray in hopes of deterring his brother from doing precisely what he was doing. He should have known that nothing could stop Feli when it came to style. "Hey, what's this?"

Lovino glanced up from pulling on his socks, and his expression morphed into one of horror as he saw just what Feliciano was pulling out of his trunk. "NOTHING!" He cried, snatching the photograph from his brother's hand before he could get a good look at it. "It's, uh, it's nothing," he coughed and didn't quite meet Feliciano's questioning gaze, but held the picture firmly behind his back. After a moment, Feliciano shrugged.

"I'm going to go get some pasta. Hurry down when you're finished getting dressed, alright?" At Lovino's nod, he ran off. As soon as he was out of sight, Lovino let out the breath he'd been holding and turned his attention to the photo, making sure it hadn't been bent or creased. The grinning image of Antonio waved up at him, eternally sitting on a park bench in Paris, from which he'd sent the picture to Lovino last summer along with a letter detailing how much fun he was having and how much he missed his 'favorite Hufflepuff.'

When Lovino had first started feeling different around Antonio he'd had no idea what was happening, and it frustrated him. A lot. Rather than trying to figure out the reason for his Antonio-induced sweaty palms and elevated heart rate, he'd taken it all and channeled it into something infinitely more manageable: anger, aimed at the cheerful brunette who was the cause of all the strange feelings.

It had taken him a long time to figure out that all of his symptoms were the result of him falling for Antonio and not some strange Spanish disease, and even longer for him to allow himself to acknowledge it. But every time he tried to confess the words froze in his throat and he found his mouth saying things like 'Fuck off' and 'Bastard' even as his mind screamed that he didn't mean it and why wouldn't his mouth stop lying, damn it?

And yet, even after all the curses and insults Lovino hurled at him, Antonio always looked at him with a bright smile on his face. As embarrassing as it was, this picture gave him hope whenever he hit a new low; even if he didn't have a chance of dating Antonio, at least he could be certain Antonio didn't hate him.

For Feliciano to find this tucked safely away in the corner of his trunk would result in a lot of awkward questions, and if _Feli _managed to figure out that his feelings towards Antonio were more than friendly then he was a lot more transparent than he would have liked. Of course, that wouldn't even matter because the whole school would be gossiping about it in less than an hour.

With Feliciano being so cute and sweet, there were very few who would point out his faults. However, there was one fact about Feliciano that was universally accepted: He couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

Or rather, if his life was even remotely threatened he would blurt out every secret he had at his disposal regardless of whether or not it would help him. Kiku was still a little miffed about the time someone had tapped Feliciano on the shoulder during breakfast one morning and had been treated to the revelation that the shy Japanese boy had a business selling hentai manga to his fellow students at a decibel level almost high enough to shatter the windows.

Lovino sighed and, with one last look at the picture, stuck it back into his trunk before hurrying off to the Great Hall.

.

"Lovino!" At the sound of his name, Lovino looked up from the grass he was tearing from the ground. Bella was running towards him with a large grin on her face, her hair and ribbon fluttering behind her. Within moments she'd plopped down beside him and pulled him into a hug. "It's so good to see you! Sorry I missed you on the train; I had to go to the prefect meeting." She released him and her hand went up to finger the badge pinned to the front of her robes, as if she was trying to assure herself that it was still there. "I still can't believe they made me a prefect!"

Lovino smiled, already feeling more relaxed in the cheerful aura Bella seemed to exude with every movement.

"I'm not. They would have been stupid not to pick you, you make the perfect prefect." Bella laughed and bumped him with her shoulder.

"Enough with the flattery; you'll give me a big head, you know."

"Oh, but it is impossible not to compliment a lovely lady such as yourself." Francis winked suggestively at Bella as he walked up and was soon elbowed in the stomach by Gilbert, who pretended to gag. Antonio, walking on Francis' other side, rolled his eyes.

"Can you ever take your mind off of flirting for even a second?" Francis laughed and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, shooting a coy wave at a pair of giggling fourth years in the same motion. Bella shook her head, disgusted, but made room for them along the wall anyway. Lovino found himself seated next to Antonio, and could feel his cheeks heating up. He forced back the color with an ease gained through years of practice, and mustered up an eye-roll and a scowl in response to the Spaniard's greeting.

"Ah, but I'm afraid that my heart has yet to be won, and until I should find myself without it, it is my duty to spread _amour _among our fellow classmates," he scanned the groups of students dotting the grassy courtyard as if looking for someone in particular, then turned his attention back to his friends. "Alas, it will take a very special person to capture my interest, so I'm afraid you will have to suffer my lifestyle for a little while yet."

Lovino glared while everyone else laughed, though he found he couldn't keep the expression for long when he got caught up in how bright Antonio's face became when he laughed.

"How about you, Lovino?" He jumped and quickly turned to his left, where Bella was looking at him with an expectant smile. "Any special girls I should know about? Boys?" She elaborated with a playful grin. "Come on, you can tell big sister Bella!"

"What?" Lovino immediately flushed a deep, dark red. His eyes flicked over to Antonio for a second without his brain's permission, though they were back on Bella before she could notice. "That's none of your business! And it's definitely none of _theirs!" _He motioned emphatically to Gilbert and Francis, who were seated on the other side of Bella and listening with keen interest.

"Oh ho, so there is someone!" Francis smirked, more interested than ever. He leaned around Bella, invading Lovino's personal space while the younger boy shrunk back and bumped into Antonio.

Antonio rolled his eyes and pushed Francis' face away. "Come on, guys, leave Lovi alone. He doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to." Lovino's eyes narrowed; despite Antonio's casual expression, he thought he could hear a faint hint of reluctance and maybe even fear in his tone.

"Nope, not an option!" Gilbert declared cheerfully, the tiny chick nestled in his hair cheeping as if in agreement. "The fact that he'd avoiding the question means that he's head over heels. And as his friends, it's our duty to make sure that whoever he likes is good enough for him!" He and Francis shared a smirk and, despite Lovino's protests that he would never be friends with them, pulled out their wands and held them threateningly in the fourth year's face. "Now, are you going to tell us, or do we have to hit you with the Loose Lips Jinx?"

Lovino's eyes widened. The Loose Lips Jinx had been created the year before by some enterprising Ravenclaw, and though it wasn't as popular as had once been, its consequences were still brutally effective.

For a full hour after being hit with it, the victim would lose all control over the little switch in their brain that filtered out all of the thoughts that shouldn't come out of their mouth. They would have no choice but to blurt out everything that went through their mind, and with the right prompting a person could spill their darkest secrets to anyone who happened to be passing by. The worst part about the spell, however, was that the victim is completely aware of themselves for the whole event, getting a front row seat to their complete humiliation while they can do nothing to stop their horrible case of word vomit.

So, yeah, Lovino had no fucking intention of getting hit with that while he was sitting less than a foot away from Antonio. Or on the same planet as Antonio, for that matter. He turned pleadingly to Bella, only to find her twirling her own wand around her fingers. At his look of utter betrayal, she merely shrugged. "It's not good to hold this stuff in, Lovi."

Lovino's eyes flicked around desperately for any possible way out of this situation, and he almost cried with relief when one walked around the corner of the castle in the form of his brother and his two friends. He leapt to his feet and was charging at his brother before Gilbert and Francis could react.

"Feliciano, what have I told you about hanging around that potato bastard?!" Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed the arm of a confused Feliciano and all but dragged him around the corner and safely away from stupid potatoes and creepy perverts.

.

Antonio watched Lovino run away as fast as, well, an Italian confronted with any form of danger. He turned back to his friends with a sigh. "You guys shouldn't be so mean to him."

"We were just joking," Gilbert assured him, putting his wand back in his pocket. Bella nodded as she tucked her own wand into her sleeve.

"Yeah, it's just so fun to watch him get all flustered."

"Besides," Francis sidled up to his Spanish friend and put an arm around his shoulder, "you want to know too, don't you?" He waggled his eyebrows, and Antonio went a bit red. He looked away and ducked out from under Francis' arm.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Before Francis could retort, a shadow fell over them. Mathias, his classmate, and Alfred, a Gryffindor one year below him, were standing in front of Gilbert with expressions that managed to look both serious and utterly devious.

"Hey, can we talk to you about something?" Mathias asked the albino, running a hand through his hair and inadvertently spiking it up even further.

Gilbert nodded, and the chick rustled its feathers with a quiet cheep. "What do you want?" Mathias and Alfred exchanged a glance.

"Uh, over there?" Alfred pointed over to a bench set away from the rest of the students who were milling around. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. He looked at Bella, Antonio, and Francis for a moment before shrugging and getting to his feet.

"Sure, why not? I'll see you guys at the usual spot, okay?" Gilbert addressed that last part to Francis and Antonio, who nodded. As he walked off with the two Gryffindors, Francis got to his feet as well.

"As beautiful as it is out here, we should be getting inside as well." Antonio joined him and, after waving goodbye to Bella, they headed around to the front of the castle and through the doors. Antonio let his feet guide him down the familiar route as his mind drifted to where it was far too often as of late.

Lovino Vargas. Loud, rude, frustrating, breathtaking, beautiful, incredible Lovino, who had occupied far too many of his thoughts since he first saw him. Lovino, who loved tomatoes and potions class, because it was so much like cooking, and distrusted anyone Feliciano hung out with because he cared too much about his brother to let him get hurt. Lovino, who had made an art out of sending mixed signals.

Antonio was the first to admit that he could be a little slow at times, but he prided himself on his ability to recognize attraction, which was almost as good at Francis'. Still, no matter how easy it usually was, nothing could ever be clear cut when it came to Lovino. There were times, when his eyes met Lovino's and he felt like he could read every thought passing through his head, that he was sure his feelings were requited. Then Lovi would close himself off or go talk and laugh with Bella, and he just couldn't be _sure. _And whenever he managed to work up the courage to confess, he'd worry that he'd just be burdening Lovino with the information and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"-that okay?"

Antonio blinked and looked over at Francis, whose eyes were flickering between his friend and something down the adjacent corridor, past his shoulder. "I'm sorry, what?" He glanced over his shoulder, but didn't see anything.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going to meet Gil on your own while I catch up later. There's something that I'd like to take care of." Francis wasn't even pretending to pay attention to him anymore, and from his expression Antonio was sure he'd either caught sight of a real French pastry (the ones usually served at Hogwarts were apparently 'cheap, tasteless copies') or his next date.

"Alright." The word had barely left his mouth when Francis shot him a smile and sauntered off. Antonio sighed and kept walking, though he couldn't help but smile. He might not be successful in his love life, but at least Francis was.

He still had some time before Gilbert would be expecting him, and he turned around, heading over to a less-used part of the castle. After a few minutes he had made his way up to a tapestry that showed a lush countryside filled with fields and rolling hills. He pushed it aside and ducked through the doorway hidden behind it, instinctively shielding his eyes as he was hit with sunlight.

The room had probably been a spare greenhouse for anything that spilled over from the Herbology classes, but as far as he could tell the teachers had forgotten about it. Now it was filled with neat, straight rows of tomato plants. He'd been delighted when he'd discovered it as a first year, and had used the seeds from the tomatoes he'd brought from home to make a little garden. It was one of his favorite places in the castle, where he could be alone with his tomatoes and his thoughts. His secret sanctuary.

At the end of last year he'd cast a spell to keep the plants fed and watered, and they'd grown beautifully over the summer. Even though he was sad he hadn't been there to watch them develop, he was glad that he'd have fresh tomatoes throughout the year. Already, they were starting to ripen.

He grabbed the watering can by the door and went down each row, carefully checking to see if any of the tomatoes were edible yet. After depositing the can back in it rightful spot, he barely remembered to clean the dirt off his robes before he sprinted off to the other side of the castle.

.

"Finally!" Gilbert threw his hands in the air as Antonio poked his head up past the eaves of the roof. He grumbled, but helped pull his friend off the window ledge and onto the lightly sloped shingles. The roof over the charms corridor had the gentlest incline, and Gilbert had managed to find a window in an abandoned classroom with a ledge wide enough to stand on. Now the roof was the property of the Bad Touch Trio, as they were referred to by the rest of the school, and they came up here whenever they wanted to talk without being overheard or drink smuggled firewhiskey. "Where have you been? I've been sitting up here for ages! And where's Franny?"

Antonio flopped down next to Gilbert, relaxing only after he was sure that he wasn't in danger of falling. "I took the long way around, you've only been waiting for ten minutes at most, and Francis is most likely off on his latest conquest."

"Why am I not surprised?" Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"So, what did Alfred and Mathias want? They seemed pretty serious." Gilbert shrugged and put a finger to his lips.

"Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. But I can tell you that they're planning something big, and rather crazy, and they were in desperate need of my… expertise in the matter." Antonio raised an eyebrow, but Gilbert just smirked. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."

He sighed but didn't argue; Gilbert could be outrageously stubborn when he wanted to be, and fighting over it just wasn't worth it. He tilted his head back, a single thought drifting through his mind just as the clouds drifted across the sky.

_This is going to be an interesting year._

* * *

_Kielbasa _is a form of Polish sausage, for those who didn't know.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story so far!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and has this story on their alerts or favorites. This story will be updated slowly, but it will be finished. Scout's Honor.

Enjoy!

* * *

Lovino stomped down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room, glaring daggers at anyone who dared to meet his eyes. So far, the day had been absolute shit. He'd woken up late and missed breakfast; he'd gotten pissed off at that annoying Korean kid in Transfiguration, cursed him out, and gotten detention; he'd found Feliciano hanging with that potato-eating Kraut-breath again and had been forced to listen to him babble on about some scary ghost; and to top it all off, there hadn't been any fucking tomatoes at dinner.

He threw open the door to his dorm, ready to collapse onto his bed and ignore the world for as long as humanly possible. He got as far as his bed when he noticed the scroll lying innocuously on his pillow. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he picked it up and cautiously rolled it open.

_You are cordially invited to participate in the first official_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_SCHOOL-WIDE PRANK WAR!_

_Any and all are welcome to join, and everyone is in danger of being pranked whether they join in or not. In order to participate, just write down your name and prank and put it in the chalice set in the storage cupboard in the classroom next to the painting of Uric the Oddball on the fifth floor of the west wing BEFORE you pull your prank. _

_The rules are simple: Do not attempt to take credit for another person's prank, and do not tell any professors about the war._

_At the end of the year, whoever has pulled the best prank will win a prize of fifty galleons!_

_Happy pranking!_

_-The PW Founders_

Lovino rolled his eyes and tossed the scroll into the trash can. A _prank war_, really? Only a complete idiot would expect people to believe something like that. All at once, Lovino noticed scrolls identical to the one now in the trash resting on each of the other beds in the room.

Alright, so an idiot with a lot of time on his hands, then. With one last derisive snort, he collapsed onto the bed, certain that this so-called Prank War wouldn't affect him in the slightest.

.

Okay, so maybe there was more to it than he'd thought.

Lovino sat at the breakfast table, glaring at the pile of confetti in his palm that had only two seconds ago been an apple. Across the Hufflepuff table, and the others as far as he could tell, all of the food had disappeared in a burst of color. It took all of two seconds for the hall to dissolve into chaos as everyone tried to figure out what happened to the food.

He had to admit, whoever had pulled this was smart; with all the professors stuck in a staff meeting all morning, there were no authority figures around to witness it.

Before the prefects could attempt to restore order, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and a dozen owls flew in carrying a large banner. Painted untidily across it in bright pink letters were the words _WE, THE FOUNDERS OF THIS PRANK WAR, DECLARE IT OFFICIALLY BEGUN! _

Another pair of owls flew in carry a transparent money sack jingling with Galleons, displaying the prize for all to see, and Lovino could tell many of the students were eyeing it greedily. Even he found himself considering pulling a prank. It wasn't like he didn't want to get back at those annoying bastards Antonio insisted upon hanging out with anyway.

The owls flew a few turns around the hall, making sure everyone saw the message before disappearing through the doors as quickly as they'd come. As few seconds later the confetti dissolved into fine dust, and all evidence of the prank was gone. The professors would never be able to tell; Lovino was beginning to gain a grudging respect for these 'founders'. Whoever they were, they knew certainly knew how to break the rules without getting in trouble.

Lovino left the Great Hall hungry, but contemplative.

.

"Yo, Toni, where do you think you're going?" Gilbert sat at the Gryffindor table, the early morning light reflecting almost blindingly off of his pale hair as he raised an eyebrow at his friend, half a bagel hanging from his mouth. Antonio, who was halfway out of his seat, gave him a similar expression.

"I was going to go say good morning to Lovi," he wrinkled his brow when Gilbert snorted. Taking another bite, he yanked him back into his seat and shoved at piece of bacon at him.

"Sorry, lover boy, but that could go on all day, and we don't have time for that."

Antonio cocked his head, trying to figure out what he was forgetting. It was Saturday, so it wasn't class, and Bella had bullied him into actually finishing his homework _before _it was due for once, so it wasn't that either… "What are we doing today that's more important than Lovi?"

"Seriously?" Gilbert stared at him as if he'd just grown a second head. "Don't tell me you forgot _Quidditch_! Our first practice of the season is today, and as Captain I cannot allow the best chaser on our team to miss practice, even for a chance at true love that he refuses to take because he's an insecure pansy."

If Lovino hadn't been across the Great Hall at the Hufflepuff table, he would have rejoiced at the opportunity to get revenge on Antonio for always comparing him to a tomato considering how red Antonio turned. That is, if he wasn't too busy flushing a similar shade or attacking Gilbert. Or both.

Before Antonio could make any protests (which Gilbert wouldn't believe anyway as Antonio is exceedingly obvious to everyone but Lovino) or initiate a counterattack (which would be even more ineffectual considering Gilbert would just loudly proclaim that he was too awesome for love and quickly bring the conversation back to Antonio) Elizaveta launched a spoon across the table and hit Gilbert right between the eyes.

"The best chaser on the team, you say?" Her eyes narrowed and Gilbert rolled his eyes back at her, though he surreptitiously rubbed at his forehead.

"Of course. You see, Antonio, as a friend of me and my awesomeness, has had some of that awesomeness rub off on him, making him more awesome, and by extension better, than you. Understand?"

Elizaveta rolled her eyes. "If being the best means being friends with someone as obnoxious as you, than I'd rather stay as I am. Now, are we going to practice or what? I can beat all of your asses any day of the week, and I'll prove it!"

"Uh, I don't mind not being the best…" Antonio offered, but he was either ignored or unheard by the two having a stare-down over the plate of treacle tarts.

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that, won't we?" Gilbert stood up, Elizaveta pushing her chair back at the same time, and they almost sprinted out to the pitch. Antonio sighed and, with one last longing look at the Hufflepuff table, rounded up the rest of his teammates and headed out into the October chill to make sure Gilbert and Elizaveta got through the practice without murdering each other.

.

Lovino was wandering around looking for the entrance to the kitchens. It had been ages since he'd had a good tomato, and his last hope was the house elves in the kitchens he'd heard about from the older students that apparently loved nothing more than to give out food. It was a stormy Sunday evening, and he couldn't help but jump at a particularly loud crash of thunder.

"It's just a storm," he muttered to himself as he glanced out one of the numerous windows. "It's just a fucking storm, so don't-" he bumped into something and let out a shocked shriek, falling heavily to the ground. He blinked, then glared up at the other person only to start screaming. It was a giant fucking sludge monster, and it was coming right for him!

"Hey, I'm sorry, Lovi, are you all right? Why are you screaming?"

Wait… he knew that voice… "What the- _Antonio?" _Now that he got a better look, he could see brown curls and tanned skin hidden under thick layers of mud and bracken."What the hell happened to you, bastard? Someone prank you?"

Once the Prank War had been started off and people knew the prize was real, people had begun pulling pranks all across the school. They were getting crazier and more elaborate every day, including what had been dubbed as 'Missing Shirt Monday' or 'The-Day-That-Shall-Never-Be-Spoken-Of'. Whoever had orchestrated it was lucky that it hadn't affected the girls, or they would have been tracked down and destroyed by a homicidal mob of estrogen.

The professors, however, had yet to get involved, and there were whispers that all of the students had somehow been jinxed to make it impossible for them to tell and that the teachers didn't know about the Prank War at all.

Antonio just shook his head as he wiped some of the muck off of his face. "No, I've had Quidditch practice all day. Our first match is coming up soon, and Gilbert's been working us as hard as he can since it's against Ravenclaw. He doesn't want to lose to his little brother."

Lovino rolled his eyes at the mention of his brother's friend, then froze. "Wait, he had you out there, all day, in _that?" _He glared out the window, where dark heavy clouds had been hovering all day and the rain thundered down hard enough to be mistaken for hail. Antonio nodded, and Lovino sighed. "That idiot's going to kill you all. What are you waiting for? Go wash off that mud and get in front of a fire before you catch pneumonia!"

Antonio stared at him for a moment, eyes wide. All at once he launched himself forward, throwing his arms around Lovino and spinning him around. "Aw, Lovi, you _do _care!"

"What the fu- get off me!" Lovino struggled, face bright red, but Antonio ignored him. "You're getting mud all over my robes!" Antonio released him after a few more moments, and Lovino did his best to quash the part of him that wanted nothing more to fall into those arms and stay there forever.

"You're right, Lovi, thank you. I'll see you later, alright?" He ran off, dripping a trail of mud onto the floor as he went. Lovino brushed the mud from his clothes and resisted the urge to run after him. With all the Quidditch practice he'd been doing, Antonio had almost no free time to spend with Lovino.

To anyone who watched their interactions and took them at face value, Lovino was delighted that he didn't have to spend any more time that humanly possible around happy-go-lucky, overly-affectionate Antonio. Of course, that was exactly what he wanted them to think. Like he wanted the whole school to laugh at him for pining over that annoying bastard.

N- not that he was pining or anything! Lovino wasn't the type of person to do any girly shit like that. It wasn't his fault that Antonio would rather spend his time playing a stupid game than following him around. And that fact _wasn't _upsetting him, thank you very much!

"Hey, _fratello, _what are you doing all the way over here?" Lovino jumped and his head snapped around before he relaxed. It was just Feliciano running towards him, his cheerful mood contrasting sharply with the moody weather. "I was looking all over for you; I thought you were eaten by a ghost!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Ghosts don't eat people, idiot." Feliciano ignored his biting tone and looked him over as if to make sure he was telling the truth.

"Oh, you're all muddy! Did you go outside in this weather? You could get sick!"

"Fuck, who are you, my mom?" Lovino waved him off before he could start fussing with his clothes. "And I didn't go outside, so you can quit worrying."

Feliciano waited for him to continue. When he didn't, he gave him a searching look before shrugging and heading back to the common room. "Alright, Lovino."

.

Antonio let his head fall to the desk with a loud thunk. On his right, Gilbert was sprawled, snoring, across is desk, not even pretending to take notes as some of the more studious Gryffindors and Slytherins were. On his left, Francis had his chin plopped in one hand, doodling on a sheet of parchment as he ignored the betrayed looks from the few Slytherins who still couldn't get past the fact that he was willingly friends with Gryffindors.

Meanwhile, at the front of the classroom, Professor Binns continued to drone on about some war between goblins. Antonio couldn't decide whether billions of Goblin Wars had taken place over the course of history, or if he was just teaching about the same one over and over. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care.

It was getting towards November, and between Gilbert's relentless Quidditch practices and the professors' giving out of a ridiculous amount of homework in preparation for the NEWT tests, he had been almost completely deprived of social activity for a few weeks now. Well, unless getting tackled off of a broom by Alfred counted as social activity.

Antonio shot a longing glance out the window. The loss of interaction with his favorite Italian was affecting him the most. This was Lovino's free period, and he could almost see him sitting under a tree, the light filtering through his hair as he struggled to hide a smile. It had been far too long since he had been able to spend any real time with Lovino. Antonio buried his face in the crook of his elbow and he silently cursed Professor Binns for never bothering to repair the clock in his room.

As discreetly as possible, Antonio kicked Francis' ankle under the table. Francis glanced over at him, expression first surprised, then faintly suggestive as he ran a foot up his calf. Antonio shot him an unimpressed look and motioned to his wrist. '_Worth a shot,' _the Frenchman's wry grin read, and after a quick peek at his watch he held up five fingers.

Antonio nodded, relaxing, and Francis returned the gesture before resuming his doodling. Five minutes left; that was better than he'd expected. He slid his unused quills and parchment into his bag, resisting the urge to count the seconds.

As soon as the bell rang he was out the door, pausing only to wave a Francis and Gilbert, the latter of whom was still fast asleep. Francis and the rest of the Slytherins had Transfiguration and Gilbert was taking an extra class, Ancient Runes (something about discovering an alien language and a map to intergalactic treasure; Antonio had stopped listening after Xenu), but this was Antonio's free period and he planned to make the most of it.

He could almost feel all of his negative emotions dissolving as he stepped through the doorway and allowed the tapestry to fall back into place. The scent of damp earth and ripe tomatoes filled his nose, and he couldn't help but be reminded of home.

To his delight, he found quite a few tomatoes ready to be picked. Antonio always saved a few for himself and took the rest down to the kitchens for the house elves to use in the meals. While they had at first been a bit hesitant to accept something from one of the students they so loved to serve, they had eventually warmed to the idea and even had a set of tomato-themed recipes to use whenever Antonio brought some.

After he had taken care of his plants and brought the ripe tomatoes down to the kitchens, Antonio strolled towards the Gryffindor common room, humming happily to himself. He still had about an hour before dinner, and he would probably be able to convince Gil to play him in a game of Exploding Snap.

He pulled one of the extra tomatoes out of his pocket and took a bite, eyes closing in bliss as he turned a corner. He immediately felt something plow into him and fell backwards, tomato juice flying everywhere as he landed on his back, the thing falling with him. His eyes flew open, and his lips twisted into a wry grin as he realized just who was sprawled across his chest.

"You know, Lovi, we really need to stop meeting like this."

Lovino blinked, staring down at him as the situation clicked in his mind. Within an instant a dark blush spread across his face, and he quickly scrambled off of Antonio. "Shut up, it was an accident!"

Antonio laughed and got to his feet. "Don't worry, I was just joking." Lovino scowled, but allowed Antonio to pull him to his feet as the excess color slowly drained from his face. He'd barely regained his footing before he was almost knocked to the floor once again as Antonio almost tackled him in a bone-crushing hug. "I missed you."

Lovino froze, staring wide-eyed over Antonio's shoulder as his cheeks flooded with warmth once more. "I- uh…" After a few moments he seemed to remember himself and began to struggle in the taller boy's grasp. "Hey, get off of me, bastard! And why the fuck is my hair wet?!"

"Huh?" Antonio stepped back, finally noticing the tomato that was now crushed in his hand, most of its juice running down the back of Lovino's neck. He brought the tomato into Lovino's line of sight with a sheepish grin. "Oops. Sorry."

Lovino rolled his eyes, though Antonio saw him look sadly at the destroyed tomato when he thought he wasn't paying attention. "Where do you even get those? They never have any whole ones at meals no matter how many times I complain."

Antonio grinned at Lovino's poorly-disguised jealousy. "It's a secret," he winked and pulled another tomato out of his pocket, "but you can have this one." Lovino glared, but snatched the tomato from his grasp all the same.

"Yeah, right. 'Secret' my ass. You just want to hoard them all for yourself." Lovino grumbled around a bite of tomato. Antonio raised an eyebrow and wondered if Lovino didn't remember that he'd just shared a tomato or if he was just deliberately overlooking it. Probably the latter, though you never knew with Lovino.

"So, do you want to take a walk with me? I haven't seen you in forever!" Antonio heaved an over-the-top sigh, to which Lovino just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. But just because I don't have anything better to do," he shot a glare at Antonio, as if daring him to argue. The Spaniard just laughed and tossed an arm around Lovino's shoulders before leading the way down the hall.

"Of course, Lovi."


End file.
